Number one thing in presentation

[rodeosweetheart]

Hi All,
I am giving a 35 minute presentation next week and wanted to ask you all for your feedback-
What is the number one thing you look for when you attending a presentation?
Thanks in advance!

[Zoe Girl]

The big word for me would be 'engaging' which includes a lot of little things. The little things you can do are to be prepared with space, handouts, logistical items so it is smooth. Then to be aware of anything that distracts from the presentation like clothing that is fussy or language that is distracting. For me the language of the presenter is very important, so that is my one thing. Watch out for saying 'um', 'you know', and 'guys'. That may sound silly but I don't know you in person. Warm and friendly language while being professional. I don'tknow anything about the context you are presenting in but I would say to watch your audience if you are comfortable with that. Sometimes I change my manner once I get in the middle of a presentation.

[herbgeek]

1) Don't put lots of words on a slide
2) Don't proceed to just read the slide.

I see both of these every day at work, and it drives me crazy. If all you are going to do is read them out loud, do me a favor and email them to me. I can read them quicker on my own.

[Gardenarian]

Smiling will get you a long ways :)

I like the room to be comfortable - to me that means somewhat dimly lit (I hate strong fluorescent light) and fairly cool, with adequate spacing between the chairs.

If there are handouts, I've found it's best to save them till the end, otherwise people are shuffling through papers the whole time.

It may not be appropriate for you, but in college classes I do ask everyone to turn off and put away their phone, as it is distracting to others (and rude to you!)

I really dislike the kind of powerpoint presentation where the presenter basically just reads what is on the screen. The powerpoint slides should be visuals that enhance what the presenter is saying - that show in pictures or graphs what would be impossible to put into words.

Sorry, more than one!

[catherine]

#1 thing I look for: Enthusiasm for the subject matter

Make it a story… (that goes along with the idea of engaging the audience)

Stand tall and look confident (Pretend, even if you're not). Command the attention of the room.

Speak more slowly than you think you're speaking and watch your "um's and uh's"

If you are using a PPT presentation, go through and make yourself a mental or actual note on the ONE key takeaway and use it as a building block in your story. Or, if there's something "between the lines" or an implication coming out of what's on the slide, make that your one point. As others have pointed out, people can read. You don't have to read the slide to them.

check and ask for comments or questions every few slides.

End the presentation 5 minutes early

Those are the main things.

I went to a class last week by the noted graphic artist Edward Tufte. He had a radical way of presenting information. He hands out the deck at the beginning of the meeting and tells his audience to spend 10 minutes reading it. His idea is that people know what they're looking for and will gravitate to just the parts that interest them. Then he just makes a few key points, asks for comments and questions and calls it a day. I can't wait until I have a presentation where I'm actually comfortable using that approach. Just thought I'd mention it.

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, all, these very helpful-- I will be checking my presentation for all of these problem areas that you raise--it is ppt, so it is vulnerable to these but have been aware of the ones you are mentioning here, like too many words on slides.

Will check my clothes and handouts, but cannot do much about space as it is in another state and don't know how far in advance I can preview it.

If you had to sum up in one sentence what you like to take away from a presentation, what would it be--for Zoe, I picked up the word "engaging," for example.

[rodeosweetheart]

Enthusiasm for the subject matter I've got, thank goodness! I am going to focus on that one--using the tips to stay focused and clear (and smile, which definitely is a hard one for me when I am not comfortable!) So if I focus on subject matter I can stay comfortable.

[Selah]

Humor is great because humor has surprise built into it, so that keeps your audience alert and riveted. I also like presentations where the presenter makes liberal and appropriate use of metaphors, similes and anecdotes--all versions of "showing, not telling." Those techniques keep me thinking, interested, and engaged. And of course, speak up--not so loud that people get tired of your voice (or you wear your own voice out), but not so soft that people have to strain to hear you (which, after too long, will cause them to just tune you out and go to their happy place in their head--or in their smartphone!).

[awakenedsoul]

When you asked for one word, I got three ideas. Enthusiasm came first, then knowledge. Passion is also really important. You sound like you have a real outgoing personality, so I'm sure that will come across to your viewers. Whenever I teach, I always remember my greatest teachers. I go over in my mind why they were such masters. They all had put their life into their craft.

Let us know how it goes!

[Dhiana]

If you had to sum up in one sentence what you like to take away from a presentation, what would it be--

What is your call to action from this presentation?
What do you want people to do with the information you are giving them?
Visit your website?
Buy a new house?
Hug a stranger?

And don't forget to politely ASK them to do this action. Don't assume they'll know to do it.

[Lainey]

All good points so far.

I'd add don't use acronyms unless you're sure your audience understands. I work in an industry that loves its acronyms and it's beyond distracting when they assume we catch the meaning of their financial or other insider type acronyms.

And leave some time for Q&A at the end unless the agenda dictates otherwise, and if so then leave people with a website or email address to use if they would like a follow-up.

Finally, one group I'm in that meets monthly typically asks the speaker to give us an electronic copy of his/her presentation so we can post it for our membership. Some speakers are reluctant because it contains some data or information that they would rather not disseminate to post on the internet. So sometimes they give us a "basic" version of their actual Powerpoint. Just be prepared for that question, and how you'd like to handle it.

[rodeosweetheart]

Thank you, everyone, for wonderful advice.
I put it away for a couple of days and then picked it back up with an eye for all of the things you have been talking about.
I think it's coming together and I have added a more directive coda.

Leave tomorrow to travel to conference, and I will get back on after Thursday and report back!

Thank you again.

[Gardenarian]

My one word would be sincerity.
When I watch TED talks, a lot of people come across as canned. Maybe it's just nerves. But the ones who connect with me are the ones who are not ashamed to show feeling and speak from that place of truth in their hearts.

[rodeosweetheart]

Done!
It went okay--started a little fast, I think, and they were a pretty stony group (was up til 2 last night editing it, and glad I did, as they were not a jolly crowd and I made it less light.) But we ended the half an hour just fine, with everyone engaged and talking, and someone wanted to talk about 40 minutes after, and was really energized by the talk. So that was great.

The most nervewracking part was the technology, using the projector, etc., but they had awesome tech helpers and they showed me what to do. I had a terrible time sleeping because I was not able to run through it with the projector before actually doing it, but it worked just like they said, and I used the simple power point setting where we looked at the same thing and I used my printed version with my notes on it. That worked better for me than the more complicated two screen setting where we have two different things going on--I had to keep that stuff simple because it was new to me.

The other most nervewracking thing was just the physical challenge that this presented; I had nightmares on Tuesday that my voice disappeared completely and all that was left were my asthmatic whistles (sometimes I wake myself up at night, with my breathing; I sound like pipe organ).

Oh, and the fact we had to evacuate the hotel for a fire alarm for 1/2 and hour and had to stand outside in the heat, and I was afraid I was going to run into breathing issues.

But I think the massive amounts of adrenalin took care of my breathing!

I had two people tell me that it was great, gave them lots of new ideas, which felt really, really good since at 2 am it didn't seem to have any ideas at all. There weren't many people there-- maybe 8, and then two people left, which felt horrible, but two new people came in, and they really liked it.

The oddest thing was that my audience was not who I thought it would be--the conference was rather different, too. That threw me for a loop, as it was aimed at other teachers, but the best part of the audience were actually from the computer world, people who design educational software, and they totally "got it."

The best thing was that I set out to do it and I did it. I realize that lately, I am doing all these bucket list kinds of things just to get them done, to be able to set a goal and do it. I didn't enjoy preparing for it, although I enjoyed talking to the software engineers afterwards about developing their businesses, that was a blast.

This was definitely an interesting experience, and I like the fact that I did not chicken out (i.e. become so panicked that I became sick.) I kept reframing it, changing my focus--either very present moment, or looking at things beyond it happening, reframing the fear as excitement. It was really exciting that that part worked. I actually enjoyed the doing of it insofar as we got talking about teaching and people were sharing ideas and talking about the future of our industry. That was really, really exciting, and I would do it again.

If I did this conference again I might scale it back a bit--there was a shorter, easier kind of thing I could have done, but I wanted to do the big one, so I kind of bit off a lot, and jumped from zero to a hundred. It amped up the fear factor a lot because it was performance, not just conversational the way the easier thing would have been. I did a lot of theater in college, but my primary reason was because I had such crippling stage fright that I figured I needed to do it, that it couldn't be good to be that afraid of anything.

But it sure took a lot of mental machinations not to panic. Thank you all for helping me think this one through. One of the other best things is that I went into the conference feeling kind of old, and seeing all these women the age of my kids, and the person who completely got what I was trying to do and wanted to get my ideas on things to help them grow their business was probably under 30 and thought my ideas were great.

I grew up and went to work in an environment that was horribly sexist, where your bosses still sexually harassed you constantly, and no one thought you really had much to add except your looks and laughing at their jokes and doing all their menial chores. So this was really a cool experience on several levels--I was not over the hill; my input was valued, and for once, I got to function with respect for my ideas and contributions, not based on how perfect I looked.

Okay, the best thing really was that the guy I thought I was a genius was young, and I have felt lately that I am treated at work like I have little to bring to the table, and that my Luddite tendencies make me irrelevant and over the hill. And this guy creates educational software.

Honestly, I feel like Wendell Berry tonight. Thank you all for your very considerable help!!

[Lainey]

That's fantastic news that it went so wonderfully, rodeosweetheart. It's also extra meaningful that people in your audience "got" what you were saying and expressed their appreciation. Well done!

[Gardenarian]

Congratulations rodoesweetheart! I'm so glad your presentation was well-received, despite the interruptions. Getting past your stage fright is a huge thing!!

Think how great your next presentation will be!

(I always speak too fast - in fact, I usually place a sticky note where I can see it saying SLOW DOWN.)

[awakenedsoul]

Glad to hear it went well, rodeosweetheart. Sounds like you're conquering your stage fright. Good for you!

[catherine]

Congratulations! You did a wonderful job of watching your feelings and adjusting. You felt the fear and did it anyway… good for you!

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks guys, it was hard, for a variety of reasons, many of them physical.

And yes, managing stage fright was also a big part of the equation. Now that I have done it, it seems silly to have been so frightened, LOL--the fear was definitely in my head, not out there in the world.

I really, really appreciate your kind support, and your very practical tips, all of which I considered and applied, so the presentation was definitely better because of you guys.

[nswef]

Neat-o Rodeosweetheart. I'm glad it went well.

[iris lilies]

That's great to hear, OP. A good summary that shows us it went well.